Minions Named the Funniest Movie of the Year

If you have a kid or are a kid at heart, you know the Minions. They are adventure-loving and as inept at planning as they are adorable. Now they are available to come home to your lair and bring their loyalty, commitment, and hilarity along for the ride! This prequel takes us all back to the beginning as we learn the origins of minion life pre-Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2. We love our Minion friends and from the Minion-themed birthday party this summer, to our Minion-clad upstairs library, we are all-in on the Minion fun! This is definitely the Funniest Movie we have brought home all year.

The Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and Digital HD also come with three all-new mini-movies and even more Minions everyone will want to watch again and again especially during the busy end-of-year travel season.

The story of Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment’s Minions begins at the dawn of time. Starting as single-celled yellow organisms, Minions evolve through the ages, perpetually serving the most despicable of masters. Continuously unsuccessful at keeping these masters—from T. rex to Napoleon—the Minions find themselves without someone to serve and fall into a deep depression. But one Minion named Kevin has a plan, and he—alongside teenage rebel Stuart and lovable little Bob—ventures out into the world to find a new evil boss for his brethren to follow. The trio embark upon a thrilling journey that ultimately leads them to their next potential master, Scarlet Overkill (Academy Award®-winner Sandra Bullock), the world’s first-ever female super-villain. They travel from frigid Antarctica to 1960s New York City, ending in ‘mod’ London, where they must face their biggest challenge to date: saving all of Minionkind…from annihilation.

AROUND THE WORLD INTERACTIVE MAP – Explore the world of the Minions with this interactive map featuring a collection of games, trivia, featurettes, storyboards, and more all themed to movie locations.

BEHIND THE GOGGLES – THE ILLUMINATION STORY OF THE MINIONS – Get a “behind the googles” look at the history and evolution of everyone’s favorite yellow henchmen.

WRITER – See how the Minions evolve throughout the different time periods. Writer, Brian Lynch discusses creating distinctive personalities for the three main Minions, his VillainCon idea, and the Minion family.

BOSS’ OFFICE – Illumination Entertainment CEO and founder and Minions producer, Chris Meledandri discusses the origins of Illumination Entertainment and the genesis of both Despicable Me and the Minions.

ART DEPARTMENT – See how the Minions came to life, from the original art concept of the henchmen to the final creation of the Minions and how to differentiate them between new time periods. Also, see how the idea of Herb and Scarlett Overkill’s characters came to be.

GALLERY – CONCEPT ART (stills)

GALLERY – COLOR SCRIPT (stills)

COMPOSER – Listen to how composer Heitor Pereira creates the sound of the Minions and what it takes to create big music for small characters.

ACTORS STUDIO – Listen to the actors’ experiences being part of the Minions movie, who their favorite Minions are, and why they love them so much

NOTICE BOARD (stills)

SAFETY VIDEO

ILLUMINATION MACGUFF ANIMATION

ANIMATION – Go behind the scenes and hear about the challenges and excitement behind the Minion characters and bringing them alive through animation in the movie

LIGHTING, LAYOUT AND EFFECTS – A look at the ways in which layout and lighting plays a big role in the emotion and motivation in the movie. Also see the ways in which they try to keep the 60’s vintage look and the challenges they face with very technical shots, where one shot can take weeks.

PRODUCERS – Producers Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy and Executive Producer Chris Renaud discuss the three main characters – Kevin, Stuart, and Bob – little family in the movie and the goal of creating a special bond between them and the audience when they leave the theater.

EDITORIAL – Editor Claire Dodgson discusses the distinctive editing style of the Despicable Me franchise and the three-year process it takes to make these movies from the original storyboards to cutting scenes with Minion dialogue.

STORYBOARD ARTIST – Learn how the actions of the words of the script turn into visual drawings and how much work is put in from the rough sketches to the final cut of the movie.

GALLERY – STUART HOT TUB STORYBOARD (stills)

JINGLE BELLS MINION STYLE – This holiday favorite is brought to life in a merry-Minion way. Now you get to sing along to the beloved video that was the most shared piece of content on Facebook in 2014.

THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS THEATRICAL TRAILER

DVD BONUS FEATURES

DELETED SCENE – ME, MYSELF AND STUART

JINGLE BELLS MINION STYLE – This holiday favorite is brought to life in a merry-Minion way. Now you get to sing along to the beloved video that was the most shared piece of content on Facebook in 2014.